


Put Your Number In My Phone

by MacksDramaticShenanigans



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Asking Out, Bucky's a cute participant for his study, Flirting, He also works in a psych lab on campus woo, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Psychology, Psychology Lab, Steve is a Psych major, if you can't tell i had trouble figuring out what to tag this as lol, sort of lol - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 10:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18259412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacksDramaticShenanigans/pseuds/MacksDramaticShenanigans
Summary: Steve tucks his phone back into his pocket and turns back to the computer. He only has to click a few times before he finds the link to the questionnaire and opens it, inputting the participant number before hitting next. The beginnings of the consent form fills the page, and all Steve has left to do now is wait for the participant— one James Barnes, according to the website— to show up.Thankfully, Steve doesn’t end up having to wait very long. James Barnes shows up ten minutes early and knocks on the door before cracking it open and peeking in.“Oh, hi,” he says, when he spots Steve sitting at the desk. He pushes the door open all the way and steps into the room just as Steve spins in the chair to face him.“Um, I’m, uh, a bit early, but I’m here for the decision making study,” James continues, clear blue eyes flickering around the room before landing on Steve again. The skin between his eyebrows crinkles up a little, and god, Steve probably shouldn’t find his uncertainty as cute as he does. “Am I in the right place?”





	Put Your Number In My Phone

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, the Psychology of Law lab, as well as the Eyewitness Field Study I mention and describe in this fic are actually real, and I work in this lab and on this study myself! (So if by any chance someone that goes to my university happens to read this fic, damn. Don’t sign up for the Decision-Making Study bc you’ve been spoiled for it lmaooo). But anyways, they’re real things and I tried my best to make the procedure of the study as clear as possible. It’s a bit hard to explain since there are so many moving parts in it, but it really is much easier in action than it sounds in writing! If anyone is confused by it feel free to ask me about it and I can try to explain it better! 
> 
> But, anyways, I came up with the idea for this fic as I was walking home after finishing my part in this very study (that happened to have a cute participant today damn), and was like hey that would be a good idea and I know this study like the back of my hand so I won’t have trouble writing about it! Haha. Unfortunately, the scenario that Steve experiences in this study hasn’t happened to me, all my experiences have been relatively boring, but I’ve still got like a month and a half left of school so hey, there’s still time for it to happen! Lmao.
> 
> Also, just another little fun fact, I have totally and completely projected onto Steve here lol, as in what he says he's studying? Yeah, that's what I'm studying. His future career prospects are also my own, too lol. 
> 
> This is unbetaed, so all mistakes are my own! Sorry bout it. Also sorry about the lack of tags, I wasn't sure what tags would fit best with this lol. 
> 
> The title comes from Ariel Pink’s [Put Your Number In My Phone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYoQ6WLuMq4)
> 
> Also, side note, I've just realized that this fits one of my prompts for the Marvel Fluff Bingo! So consider this my fill for my "college au" square on it! 
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy my little projection brainchild lmao. <3

Interviewing to work as a research assistant in Maria Hill’s Psychology of Law lab was the best decision that Steve has ever made. The interview itself had been short, sweet, and simple and he’d been offered a position not even a full hour after he’d come in for it. He’d accepted the position immediately, more than happy to get a bit of research experience under his belt. Now, he was set to earn three upper division credits for the lab, and they were by far the easiest three upper division credits he’d ever had to take. 

The lab itself is pretty simple. During orientation, Pepper Potts and Carol Danvers, the two graduate students working under Doctor Hill, explained the three different studies the research assistants would have the opportunity to take part in, all of which focused on the studying the psychological aspects of certain parts of the legal process. Pepper and Carol each have their own smaller experiments the research assistants will help collect data for, but the main study of the lab is what they call the Eyewitness Field Study. It’s a fairly simple procedure that sounds much more complex than it actually is, and it involves three research assistants to take on three different roles: the researcher, the thief, and the police worker. 

The researcher has the responsibility of starting the participant on the study in one room and eventually directing them to a different room on the floor below, where the thief will be waiting. Once the participant makes it to the second room, the thief is supposed to act surprised that someone else is in the room and hurry out. The researcher will then join the participant downstairs and ask if they’ve seen a phone in the room. When the participant answers ‘no’ and mentions seeing another person in the room, the researcher is supposed to step out of the room and pretend to make a phone call to the police, only to come back in and inform the participant that they made this call and that the police have a suspect in mind and would like the participant to come to the on campus police station to make an identification. From that point, the researcher walks the participant to the on campus police station where the third research assistant posing as a police worker takes over and takes the participant through one of two possible identification processes: one in which the participant is aware that the crime was staged and they’re participating in a study, and another where they’re unaware and believe the crime to be real. After that, the police worker is supposed to walk them through the debriefing process. 

Ultimately, the goal of the study is to examine how people make judgements and identify suspects in a lineup procedure when they have the knowledge that they’re participating in a research study compared to when they believe to have witnessed an actual crime.

It’s a pretty interesting study, in Steve’s opinion. An easy one, too. He’s been working in the lab for almost three months now, running this very study for just as long. At this point he can run it in his sleep, he knows the ins and outs of each role without really having to consult the procedure anymore.

Steve’s scheduled to be in lab for two hours, which means he’s only working with two participant on the Eyewitness Field Study, and upon taking a closer look at the schedule, he finds he’s taking on the role of researcher for both. He leaves his apartment half an hour before the allotted lab time so he has plenty of time to arrive and set the study up, and he walks the short distance to campus, humming along to the easy melody coming from his headphones. 

Once he makes it to the right building, he shuts off his music and disconnects his headphones, shoving them into his right pocket next to his keys before tucking his phone away in the back one. It’s important his phone isn’t seen by the participant, so he tugs the hem of his sweater down a bit more in the back to make sure his pocket is properly concealed. 

He takes the stairs two at a time until he’s on the second floor, and yanks open the door before making his way down the hall towards Pepper and Carol’s office, where the necessarily supplies for the study are stowed away. 

The door to the office is unlocked when Steve tries it, and upon pushing into the room, he finds Carol at her desk typing away at her computer. Her fingers pause and her head lifts at the sound of Steve entering, and a warm smile curves onto her face. “Hi Steve,” she greets. 

“Hey Carol,” Steve replies, stepping into the room and letting the door fall shut behind him. “How’ve you been today?” 

Carol tilts her head and presses her lips together. Her nose scrunches up a little. “Oh, you know,” she sighs, light and airy. “Busy as usual. Hill’s got us going through so much data a day it’s all starting to mush together in my brain,” she laughs. “How about you?”

Steve reaches for one of the lab coats hanging off of the coat rack that sits by the door, then shuffles past Pepper’s unoccupied desk to open the filing cabinet that holds the scratch paper and pens for the experiment. “Today’s been alright,” he answers. “I think I bombed Fury’s test, but I got an A on Coulson’s paper, so I guess that kind of balances things out a little.” 

A sympathetic expression passes over Carol’s face. “Ooh, I don’t think I ever took a class with Fury that didn’t have me working my ass off to keep an A. He’s a tough professor, but a good one.”

“Definitely,” Steve agrees, slipping a few sheets of scratch paper from the drawer before carefully closing it. “Well, I’m off to set up for the study, so I’ll see you in a while if you’re still in here when I’m finished,” Steve says, holding a hand up in a still wave. 

Carol mirrors the wave and smiles again. “See you later, Steve,” she says, waiting until Steve turns back towards the door before she drops her hand and goes back to her computer screen and crunching numbers.

Steve takes the stairs two at a time again up to the third floor, shrugging into the lab coat on his way to the first room the study takes place in. Once there, he punches the code into the box next to the door and pulls the key out to unlock the door. 

The room itself isn’t all that large, but it is big enough to house several computer stations along the walls. Steve flicks on the light and lets the door shut behind him before sidling up to the one computer station that’s pressed against the wall of windows. It’s got two monitors set up on the desk, and a thicker, comfier spinning chair in front of it. Sinking into the seat of the chair, Steve sets the scratch paper and pen to the side of the mousepad and logs onto the computer. 

Setting up only takes a few minutes. All he has to do is check the website to confirm that he actually has a participant today and then fill out the session sheet, including the date, time, location, and names of all the research assistants and each of their roles. 

As he fills the session sheet out, he’s happy to see that he’s working with Clint as the police worker and Natasha as the thief today. Tuesday’s are always his favorites for that very reason. Despite the fact that there’s very minimal interaction between the three research assistants in the study, things always go the smoothest when it’s the three of them running it together.

Steve pulls his phone from his back pocket real quick to shoot off a text to the group message he has going with Clint and Natasha for the study, informing them that he’s in the right room and getting everything ready. 

Clint sends back a thumbs up emoji almost instantly and a simple  _ at PD _ to let Steve know he’s in position too. 

Natasha takes a minute to respond, but her message is affirmative, as well, that she’s in place in the secondary location.

Steve tucks his phone back into his pocket and turns back to the computer. He only has to click a few times before he finds the link to the questionnaire and opens it, inputting the participant number before hitting next. The beginnings of the consent form fills the page, and all Steve has left to do now is wait for the participant— one James Barnes, according to the website— to show up.

Thankfully, Steve doesn’t end up having to wait very long. James Barnes shows up ten minutes early and knocks on the door before cracking it open and peeking in.

“Oh, hi,” he says, when he spots Steve sitting at the desk. He pushes the door open all the way and steps into the room just as Steve spins in the chair to face him.

And damn. Steve doesn’t really know what he was expecting out of James Barnes, but this certainly wasn’t it. He’s tall, probably around the same height as Steve, and he’s built. Like really built. Steve can tell even through the soft grey sweater he has on. His hair is long, curling just past his chin, and there’s a clean dusting of stubble across his jaw and upper lip. The jeans he has on are black and tight, and combined with that cozy grey sweater it’s an intoxicating mix of hot and adorable. The sleeves of that sweater are pushed up, showing off toned forearms and strong looking hands. A hair tie rests around his right wrist, and Steve tracks the hand attached to it as it comes up to brush some of that soft looking hair behind his ear.

“Um, I’m, uh, a bit early, but I’m here for the decision making study,” he continues, clear blue eyes flickering around the room before landing on Steve again. The skin between his eyebrows crinkles up a little, and god, Steve probably shouldn’t find his uncertainty as cute as he does. “Am I in the right place?”

Steve watches as James bites down into his lower lip, worrying it between his teeth.

“This is room 340, right?” James asks after Steve’s silent for a few seconds too long.

“Oh, yes!” Steve cries and immediately winces at how frantic he sounds. He straightens up in his chair and clears his throat a little. “Yes, this is 340. You must be James, then?”

James laughs a little, but nods. “James,” he repeats. “Yeah, that’s me. But, uh, nobody really calls me that. I go by Bucky.”

“Bucky,” Steve tests the name out, already pleased with the way it feels rolling off his tongue. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Bucky. My name is Steve and I’m a research assistant here with this study,” he introduces, jumping right into the beginning of his spiel. He stands from the chair and gestures towards it. “You can have a seat here since you’ll be using this computer for the study.”

Steve steps to the side and Bucky shuffles past him, dropping his bag next to the desk and lowering himself into the chair. He shifts a little until he’s comfortable and focuses on Steve once more. 

“What we’re interested in here is how people solve problems and make decisions,” Steve continues, folding his hands together in front of him. “You’ll complete some logic problems on the computer, which should take about sixty minutes altogether. There’s a piece of scratch paper on the table there if you need it, and if you don’t know the answer to a question give it your best shot and then move on.”

Bucky’s listening with rapt attention, nodding every few seconds to show he’s following. 

“Before you begin the questionnaire, I just need you to read through the consent form on the screen, and if you agree to participate then all you have to do is click the ‘yes’ at the bottom of the page and then you’re free to continue on with the rest of the study. I’ll be waiting in the hall, but come let me know when you’ve finished or if you have any questions,” Steve finishes. He flashes Bucky a professional smile, and waits to see if he has any questions now. 

“Sounds good, Steve,” Bucky replies with a short nod. 

“Great,” Steve replies. He makes to move for the door, but pauses and turns back towards Bucky. “Oh, and just a heads up, we’ve been having some issues with the computers in here, so let me know if you have any problems,” he adds, just like the script in the procedure tells him to.

There’s nothing actually wrong with the computers. The questionnaire is rigged, though, so that once the participant reaches a certain question, the little next arrow in the corner disappears. This is how Steve and the others in the researcher role get the participants to the secondary location, where they’ll witness the staged crime. 

“Okay,” Bucky agrees, then turns to the consent form while Steve slips out of the room.

Steve walks to the mouth of the little alcove of rooms and leans up against the wall, buckling down to wait for Bucky to come inform him that the computer has fucked up. It usually takes the participants a good fifteen to twenty minutes or so to work through the first few questions before the arrow goes missing, but since they’re not supposed to see Steve’s phone on him, he can’t exactly pull it out to mess around on while he waits. Not when the participant could walk out any second and see it. That would ruin the whole study, and Steve doesn’t want to be that person. So, instead he stares at the wall. Specifically the row of posters stapled there. 

It’s the same four posters that have been there all year: an ad for some sort of cleaning service; a request for more participants to take a survey about the LGBT community on campus; a flyer for the campus writing center; and another one listing the merits and benefits of joining a psychology or sociology lab and the ones offered. He’s read over each on dozens of times by now, could probably recite them by heart if asked to. But, they’re the only thing to look at besides the floor. 

Steve isn’t sure how much time passes before the door to 340 creaks open and Bucky sticks his head out to get Steve, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. Steve’s a bit grateful for that; the sooner he can hand the participant off to the police worker, the sooner he can leave and go home. Though, he wouldn’t necessarily mind if Bucky kept him longer. Not if it meant he got to look at him a little bit longer.

“Uh, Steve,” Bucky calls. “I think the computer fucked up,” he says. “It’s not letting me move to the next question.”

Steve pushes himself off the wall and follows Bucky back into the room, pasting a concerned expression on his face. He stops in front of the computer and pretends to examine it for errors, then sighs loudly. “Shit,” he mutters. “I had a feeling this would happen.” He pauses for a second then feigns lighting up with an idea. “Oh, you know what, there’s a room downstairs, 228, that has a computer I know for sure works. It should be empty in there, so if you wanna head down and log into that computer, we can finish up in there.” 

“228, you said?” Bucky repeats, checking to make sure he has the right room. 

Steve nods. “Yep, that’s the one. I’ll meet you down there, I just want to shut down this computer and make sure everything is cleaned up,” he explains. “The door should be unlocked so you can just head right in.”

Bucky picks his coat up from the back of the chair and reaches for his bag, slinging it over a shoulder. “Alright,” he agrees. “See you down there, then.” And with that he turns and walks out the door. 

Steve waits for the sound of Bucky’s footsteps to fade and the telltale sound of the stairwell doors opening, then slowly counts to five before he pulls out his phone to shoot Natasha a heads up text.  _ Participant is on his way down _ , he types. Then he closes the questionnaire tab and signs out of the computer.

He takes his time locking the door again, stalling long enough that he’s sure Bucky’s had time to make it to 228 and see Natasha lurking there. In his pocket, his phone buzzes with a new message and he checks it quickly. It’s Natasha confirming that Bucky’s waiting in the room— Steve’s cue to head on down.

228 is just one floor down, but Steve hustles so as to not keep Bucky waiting very long. He slows once he reaches the hallway just before the room and makes sure he’s ready for the next part of the study. 

Twisting the handle, Steve pushes the door to 228 open and steps inside. He makes a show of taking stock of the room, physically turning his head to look at each side. Then he scrunches his features up. Bucky takes notice right away.

“Everything okay?” He asks, quirking a brow at Steve.

Steve purses his lips and shakes his head. “Not exactly… did you happen to see a phone down here?” He asks. “I couldn’t find mine upstairs, and I think I might have left it down here when I was working in here earlier.”

It’s Bucky’s turn to scrunch up his face, and he looks thoughtful for a moment before he grimaces a little. “I don’t think so,” he answers. “I don’t remember seeing a phone. There was a woman in here, though. Kind of looked startled when I walked in, and she left really fast. Like she wasn’t supposed to be here or something. It was kind of weird.”

“Oh, shit, there was someone in here?” Steve questions. He runs a hand through his hair, feigning distress. “That makes me nervous. I’ve heard stuff in this building has been going missing lately.” He chews on his lower lip for a moment, pretending he’s trying to come up with a solution. Before he can say his next line, however, Bucky interrupts.

“Really?” Bucky asks, face contorting again. “Shit, that’s not very good. You know what, let’s not jump to conclusions right away. Why don’t you give me your number and I can try to call your phone,” he offers, already reaching for his own phone. “Make sure it’s not hiding somewhere in here before you get too worried.” 

And shit. That’s not supposed to happen. Steve hasn’t had a participant yet that’s offered to call his phone, and there isn’t anything on the procedure that tells him how he should react to this. He’s on his own.

“Well…” he starts. “This room isn’t all that big, and there really aren’t that many places it could be hiding… I don’t know how well that would work.” 

Bucky shrugs and calls up the keypad. “It won’t hurt to try, though, right?” He says, holding his phone out for Steve to enter his number into.

Steve takes it and hesitates for a moment. He’s not entirely sure how good of an idea it is; he honestly can’t remember if his phone is on silent, and if it goes off the whole study will be ruined. But Bucky’s sitting there expectantly, waiting for Steve to try calling his phone, and he can’t exactly put in a fake number because what if someone actually answers it? And pretending to make a phone call won’t work either, because phones are loud enough that others can usually hear the dial tone, and what if Bucky were to check his call history right after Steve hands his phone back? 

Here goes nothing. Steve puts his real number in and presses call.

The dial tone starts up, and a moment later Steve’s back pocket starts to buzz.  _ Shit _ . He forgot to take it off of vibrate and completely silence it. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but the room’s quiet enough that it’s entirely possible for Bucky to hear the vibration if he was really listening— which he is, since he’s trying to help Steve find his phone.

So, Steve does the only thing he really can do. He raises his hand to his mouth and pretends to be hit by a coughing fit. 

An alarmed look flashes across Bucky’s face. “Oh, jeez, are you okay?” 

The buzzing in Steve’s pocket finally stops as the call is sent to voicemail, and he puts a stop to the fake coughs. “Yeah,” he wheezes. “Yeah, I’m good. Sorry.”

Bucky’s concerned expression stays for a few more seconds, watching Steve carefully before he must deem him actually okay and relaxes. “I didn’t hear a phone anywhere,” Bucky says, glancing around the room again. “Did you?”

Steve hangs up the call and hands Bucky’s phone back to him. “No,” he confirms. “I think whoever’s been taking stuff from this building might have gotten it. Could you wait here for a minute while I go make a call on the lab phone?” 

“Sure thing,” Bucky replies, his tone understanding. He looks a bit sympathetic too.

Steve sends him a thankful smile before slipping out of the room. He doesn’t actually have to make a call on the lab phone, but he stands in the hall long enough that it seems like he actually did. Knowing that Bucky isn’t going to exit the room anytime soon, Steve pulls his phone out again to send another text to the group.  _ About to head to the PD _ , he types and hits send.

He lets another minute pass and then he heads back into the room. “So, I just called the police to let them know what happened, and they told me there  _ has _ been a series of thefts similar to what I described,” Steve informs Bucky, who’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “They said they already have a suspect in mind, and they’d like to ask if you could make an identification, if that’s not too much trouble.” 

Bucky nods right away. “I can do that,” he says. “Yeah, no trouble at all. I can totally do that.” 

A warm smile spreads across Steve’s lips. “Great, that’s really great. I can walk you over to the police station,” he replies. “And thank you,” he adds. 

Bucky’s already up, his bag slung over his shoulder again. “Oh, it’s no problem,” he responds, waving Steve’s gratitude off. “Having your phone stolen is a really shitty thing, I’m happy to do as much as I can to help.”

Steve sends him another smile and holds the door open for Bucky.

The walk to the on campus police station is a short one, just five minutes away from the social sciences building they were in. Steve knows the path by heart, having walked several other participants down it before.

“I bet it was that woman that was in the room when I got there,” Bucky comments as they start their journey to the police station. He sighs and presses his lips together. “She looked so shady, just standing in the corner of the room. She wasn’t even using the computer or anything.”

“That is kind of odd,” Steve agrees, careful not to say too much about it. He doesn’t want to accidentally fuck it up. 

“I didn’t get the best look at her, but I think I saw enough to be able to pick her out of a lineup if she’s on it,” Bucky continues, a thoughtful look crossing over his face. He’s probably trying to remember any details he can about Natasha.

“Hopefully,” Steve says, sticking with simple responses.

“So you’re a psych major then,” Bucky says next, and Steve’s grateful for the topic change.

“That I am,” Steve confirms with a nod. “Well, psychology is one of my majors.”

“One?” Bucky questions, quirking an eyebrow.

“I’m doubling,” Steve explains. “Psych and criminal justice. Kind of want to go into the FBI eventually.”

“Shit, the FBI, that’s pretty damn cool,” Bucky replies, sounding thoroughly impressed. 

Steve preens a little at that. “What about you then? Psych major, too?” He asks, turning the question onto Bucky now. 

“It’s actually a minor,” Bucky clarifies. “I’m majoring in philosophy, and I thought psychology would kind of compliment that well. Plus brain shit can be pretty interesting, too.” 

“Brain shit,” Steve snorts. 

Bucky grins and bumps his shoulder into Steve’s.

They manage to talk a little bit more about school and the campus and whether they’re living in the dorms still or have their own apartments, but then the police department’s front entrance comes into view, and the conversation slows to a stop as they approach it. 

“Well, here we are,” Steve says, reaching for the door. He pulls it open and waves Bucky in.

“Thank you,” Bucky says, smiling at Steve as he steps inside. 

In the lobby, Clint’s waiting for them. “Hey there,” he greets. “Thanks so much for coming in, I can take it from here,” he tells them. It’s Steve’s cue that his part is officially done. Clint turns to Bucky. “If you’ll follow me right this way,” he says.

Bucky glances over his shoulder as he follows Clint through the door separating the actual station from the lobby, and he sends Steve one last little smile. Then the door shuts behind him.

Steve sighs softly and exits the police station, following that same path back to the social sciences building. He’s a bit sad that he probably won’t be seeing Bucky again, especially since psychology is only Bucky’s minor, and Steve’s well past the intro level classes, so the chances of sharing a class are slim to none.

It’s very possible for Steve to go into the study website and use the email listed under Bucky’s name where he signed up to contact him, but that doesn’t seem very ethical. And Steve’s all about professionalism.

He’s very much in his head about it all as he trudges up the stairs and towards Pepper and Carol’s office so he can fetch a fresh sheet of scratch paper for his next participant of the day. Walking into the office, he barely even registers Carol’s greeting.

“Everything go well with the study?” Carol asks.

Steve nods and pulls open the filing cabinet. “Peachy,” he answers. Just as he closes his fingers around a new sheet of paper, his phone vibrates in his pocket. It reminds him of the almost fuck up.“Almost threw the study when he offered to call my phone and it started buzzing in my pocket, though” he tells Carol with a small laugh. He really needs to put it on silent before this next study. He’ll do that after he checks who the new message is from.

“But you managed to save it?” Carol checks, and Steve has to stifle a laugh at her very obvious concern for her precious data. 

“Yeah, I was able to keep him from hearing it,” Steve answers, tapping in his passcode before opening the messaging app. The number he sees sitting at the top of the list isn’t one Steve has saved in his contacts, and his heart rate picks up in his chest.

  1. _ur phone wasn’t actually stolen_



There’s no other person the message could be from except Bucky, and Steve feels a giddy sort of happiness that Bucky must have felt at least a little bit the same if the first thing he did after he finished the study was to text Steve. 

_ hm guess not _ , Steve sends back.

_ ur a pretty good actor then. had me going for sure ;) _

A winky face? Damn, does that mean Bucky’s trying to flirt with him?  _ it helps that i’ve gone through that exact scenario a dozen times now _ , Steve types back. It’s not really all that flirty, and he frowns at the screen.  _ you were a bit of a challenge though _ , he adds, hoping that comes across flirtier than the first bit. 

_ was i now? _

Steve chuckles to himself.  _ people don’t usually ask for my number and offer to try calling my phone _

_ u know _ , Bucky sends back, followed by a second message,  _ i did want to help u find ur phone, but i also just think ur cute and wanted ur number ;) _

Steve’s eyes widen as he reads the message, and he has to read it three more times for Bucky’s words to actually sink in.  _ “Oh my god _ ,” he breathes out.

Over at her desk, Carol’s head pops up. A curious expression crosses her face and the corners of her lips quirk in a sly grin. “‘Oh my god’?” She repeats. “That sounded like a good ‘oh my god’, what is it? What happened?” She presses, propping her chin onto her palm and batting her eyelashes expectantly at Steve.

Steve drops into the chair next to her, a shy smile of his own curling onto his lips. “It’s, uh, the participant, from the study I just conducted— Bucky. He just called me cute,” he gushes. “And he also admitted to asking for my number because he wanted it, not just because he wanted to help me find my phone.” 

Carol gasps slowly and overexaggeratedly and pushes at Steve’s arm. “Steve!” She exclaims. “This is great. I kinda feel like a bit of a matchmaker since this is my lab afterall,” she jokes.

Steve laughs good-naturedly. “I guess you did kind of help make this happen.” 

Carol scoffs. “Kind of? Who was it that hired you again? And made the schedule?” She teases.

Another text has Steve’s phone buzzing against the table, and he reaches for it right away.

_ what r u doing now? r u still in lab? _

The message has Steve’s heart rate kicking up in his chest again. He doesn’t really know what Bucky’s trying to get at with these questions, but his mind has taken him down several possible paths already, each one better than the last.

“What did he say?” Carol asks, clearly noticing the giddy excitement bubbling under Steve’s skin. 

Except as soon as she speaks, he’s reminded that he’s here for lab, and that he still has another participant in fifteen minutes. Steve’s shoulders drop a little as he deflates. “He asked what I’m doing right now,” he answers. “I think… I think he might be trying to ask me out?” But before Steve can counter that with how he wouldn’t be able to say yes because he’s still here another hour, his phone buzzes again.

_ if ur not busy, u wanna join me for a cup of coffee? :) _

Steve’s heart somersaults as he reads the message, and he can’t stop the grin from taking over his face. This is  _ definitely _ Cute Bucky asking him out!

Carol leans in close to read the message over Steve’s shoulder, and she lets out a happy little cheer. “You’re gonna say yes right?” She asks.

Steve lips pull down. “I want to,” he starts. “But I’ve got another participant.”

It’s Carol’s turn to frown and a little crease forms between her eyebrows. “You know what? I’ll cover for you,” she says, her tone firm. She gives a single nod, as if confirming her decision. “I’ll run the study for your next participant, it’s totally not a problem.” 

Steve’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and a feeling of total gratitude floods through him. “Are you serious?” He asks, that bubbly feeling returning to his chest. His smile is already back, unfurling across his lips again until they’re so wide it hurts. 

Carol nods. “One hundred percent serious,” she confirms. “Besides, it’ll be good for me to take a break from all these numbers. Now go!” She gives Steve’s shoulder a little shove towards the door. “Go get some sugary, caffeinated beverage with your cute boy!” 

Steve laughs, light and airy, and lets Carol manhandle him out the office door. He throws a wave Carol’s way over his shoulder as he starts to make his way towards the stairwell. “Thanks again, Carol. I owe you one,” he calls.

“You don’t owe me anything. Now, have fun, be safe!” Carol calls back.

The grin on Steve’s face is permanent, and the happiness is thrumming through his veins as he exits the building and follows the path to the student union where there’s a student run coffee shop inside.

_ i’d love to. i’ll meet you there in 5  _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think with a kudos and a comment! 
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> Come say [hi](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/brooklynbabybucky)! :)
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> And come check out this cool [discord](https://discord.gg/8gybKrj) for marvel content creators!! You can find more information [here](https://marvelcreatorsnetwork.tumblr.com/) or feel free to ask about it in the comments!! :)


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